Struggling With Quick To Grab Low Carb Meals

Pork scratchings.. keto crack..

roasted meat (without breaded coatings)
prawns etc

cheese (yummy yummy cheese )
avocado
boiled eggs (cook them before little one goes to bed and eat cold)
salad (check labels before buying, many supermarkets have bowls of salad in the fruit & veg section, many under 4g carbs)

@nessie216 hello and welcome. I will tag kind @daisy1 who will post some useful information. If you are near a Saisnsbutys they do a low carb bread 5g carbs called Hilo bread. Waitrose do a low carb loaf Livlife bread. These are both seeded and are handy for a sandwich if needed.

I don't know if this is the same for all M&S stores, but at the arrivals in Heathrow I was able to get 3 items for £7.00, prawns with tomatoes, packet of sliced beef and packet of packet of ham slices.

@nessie216

Hello Nessie and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 235,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  
  
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
  

Morrison's do a tasty meal called eat smart counted roast chicken dinner. It's chicken in gravy with carrots, peas and 3 small new potatoes. It has a stuffing ball which I bin. It's tasty and quick and it's 15.5g carbs per meal, 4.9g of which are sugar.

I add some butter to the veg too.

£2.42 each.

I also get the Morrison's salad bar salad. £3 including a drink and a side. I'll usually have the salad with a tin of mackerel or tuna. Both in sunflower oil.

There's lots of options like the that and for quick snacks I love almonds.

As the sun is out, way not cook outside on a gas barbecue? As other have said a slow cooker is also great.

nessie216 said:

Hi
I was diagnosed with T2 a couple of weeks ago and have made great strides in changing my diet already but one thing I’m struggling with is easy grabable meals

Before diagnosis my easy grab meals were mugshots or micro rice or a sandwich or toast

I will also add that I’m currently living in a caravan whilst we are renovating our house so cooking when I get home is quiet a struggle (not ideal with flames next to my 4year olds head whilst she sleeps)

So far I have just been grabbing pre cooked meat and cheese . . .

I know I need to test to see what and how things effects me (extra monitor with strips ordered) but I was just wondering what other people do - especially when you cba to cook!

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Peanut butter on low carb bread? Cheese on toast, ready meals which have no added sugar and detachable potato? Eat out and ask for no pasta, potato or rice. Or have a starter which is only protein and salad.

My slow cooker was the one item permanently used when we lived in caravan for a year.

I could eat meat then so we did all meat in it and loads of other low carbs meals. Will have to have a think what we would cook as it was a long while ago.

Compared to M&S food, the cost of a gas bbg would be recovered in under 1 week.

Something I have found useful is to take a supermarket prepared meal that is already reasonably low in carbs - say a riceless butter chicken (6.1 carbs / 100 grams) - which is pretty cheap (under $10 a kg) - and divide it into medium sized take-away containers. I add 100 grams of the meal, an extra 100 of cauliflower and an extra 100 grams of chicken breast for a 300 gram serving size. The total carbs for the meal then are around 8 and it is very simple to store a bunch in your fridge or freezer for later reheating.

Another pretty quick and easy meal is tomato soup, a few hundred grams of tomatoes, some veg or chicken stock makes a quick and easy low carb meal and again you can store extra in the fridge or freezer if you make a batch for the week.

Another simple but filling food is boiled eggs. They are low in carbs and very healthy and once again easy to prepare a dozen or so in a batch and store in the fridge for use throughout the week.

Hi, there have already been some great suggestions here but a couple of new ones you might like to try:
Salami crisps, quick and very easy if you have access to a microwave, place salami between layers of kitchen roll and blast in the microwave, long enough to dry them, in mine 1 layer takes 60 to 90 seconds depending on size of the slices, these are lovely for when you want something with some crunch

Halloumi cut into wedges and wrapped in bacon, cook on a fairly high heat turning to make sure both sides of the bacon get cooked, I like mine crispy, these are great hot or cold, they keep for several days in the fridge

Baked eggs, whisk eggs and pour into muffin or fairy cake size baking tins, add whatever you fancy, cheese, tomatoes, onion, cooked meats etc etc and bake, again delicious hot or cold and can be kept for a few days in the fridge

This week I made a batch of the halloumi thingies, I have had some as a snack and yesterday and today they were my lunch with salad, I also made 2 baked eggs I lined each dish with bacon and cooked for a bit so that the bacon wouldn’t be too soft, then added my eggs with tomato and cheese, these were my breakfasts yesterday and today, I was the envy of everyone at work yesterday, they all though I was eating quiche

Hot dog style sausages again wrapped in bacon can be batch cooked and keep, prefer this type of sausage warm but either way they are tasty

Low carb scotch eggs, hard boil eggs and then wrap in bacon, quick dip in beaten egg and rolled in coconut flour, fry in coconut oil or oil of your choice

Hope some of these suggestions work for you, good luck

I would suggest that a cheap gas BBQ would be ideal...with a gas ring on the side if possible. You can then cook almost anything. This will last thru the build and be there for afterwards. Another idea is to prep everything for your slow cooker, put it in fridge, the night before and get OH to put it on low first thing.
How about putting your daughter to sleep your bed and lift her out after you have cooked, back into her bed. I bet she wouldn't wake up. My experience is that littles often fall asleep on the sofa and get carried off to bed. Many of my grandkids certainly did/ still do. Good luck.

nessie216 said:

a microwave

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I do most of my cooking in my microwave. Could you use an extension lead to situate the microwave somewhere else, even, in this hot weather, outside? I buy chicken drumsticks and thighs from Morissons (pretty reasonably priced as they sell the breast portions for much more), remove the skin (not a big task) and then cook in a covered glass casserole in the microwave. I add a little water to start things off, and some herbs if I have them. I put the skin in to cook with the legs. The resulting liquid after removing the meat and refrigerating turns into a jelly which I think contains much of the food value from the chicken and, especially if you have been able to use herbs, adds a lot of flavour. Of course once cooked the chicken can be eaten hot or cold.

nessie216 said:

So far I have just been grabbing pre cooked meat and cheese . . .

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Do you like fish? Lots of tinned fish on sale, just needs opening.

My diagnosis came just before i went off on holiday and low carb and exercise was easy for a couple of weeks. Now back at work, sitting in meetings and hours of driving all week. I'm finding it hard to replace the sandwiches and crisps i used for meal substitutes while stuck on the motorways of the UK. Any suggestions? Im away for several days at a time so its not just about making a packed lunch!
I know the answer is out there!
Thanks